Dreams
by Gisei
Summary: Sakura's been having recurring dreams for years involving a mysterious figure. An assigned training session in Sunagakure just might help her figure things out.
1. To Suna

**Disclaimer: **_:sigh:_ I don't own Naruto. There. I said it.

**Author's Notes: **I'm new here. I've never written any kind of story in my LIFE let alone felt any want/need to publish ANYTHING. Yet, I'm here... and I'm trying. Please do **review**; I'm more than open to constructive criticisms.

I don't plan for this fic to be long. I'm estimating maybe 3 chapters or so. I highly doubt i'll be going any higher than 5.

* * *

**DREAMS**

_1. To Suna_

From a distance, wisps of pastel pink seem to glide through the branches among the sparse trees near the edge of Konoha territory and the Wind Country. Upon closer observation, the streaks of color belonged to a petite figure of a young female clad in a sleeveless rose top and a khaki-colored skirt with black shorts underneath. Red and black elbow and shin guards, along with fingerless gloves and a forehead protector completed her outfit. 

Haruno Sakura continued weaving through the trees before stopping on a relatively high branch overlooking the changing landscape where the trail of trees and tall grass ended and drier grounds began. She was on a simple solo mission to drop off medical supplies to the guards some twenty miles from the gates of Konoha, help heal any of them who were injured due to the short confrontation with Sound the day before, and then advance into Suna for a brief training session with the Sand medics.

Tsunade saw it fit that her best student should learn from many sources other than her. Among other excuses, the fifth hokage was also starting to run out of jutsus to have Sakura perfect, so assigning the kunoichi study time in the allied country gave Tsunade a break from training her.

Sakura made herself comfortable on her perch - her back leaning on the trunk, one leg bent for an arm to rest on while the other hung over the branch. She just finished delivering the remaining herbs to the guards closest to the border, and now she was taking her time getting to the desert. She figured the night that came with cooler temperatures would be a suitable time for her to manage the desert as opposed to the blazing heat during the day. Besides, there really was no rush to get there; her shishou not-so-subtly hinted that to her. She fully understood how much work load Tsunade accumulated during the three months Sakura practically _kidnapped _her from her office to a small clearing and demanded that she train her harder than before.

In those three months, Sakura pushed herself to her limit. She trained six days a week, letting her body rest on the seventh. Even on that one day of rest, she crammed her brain with information from the books and scrolls Tsunade gave her to study. Heck, Tsunade had to kick Sakura out of office too many times and scolded her for taking so many extra unassigned books when she should have been allowing her body to recover from rough training.

Tsunade wasn't really mad at Sakura. In fact, she was proud that her pupil had as much determination as Naruto and was inching her way to surpass the hokage herself. She was just concerned that Sakura would get sick from over-exertion.

Sakura drew in a deep breath as her gaze lingered on the warm sunset and her thoughts drifted to her recurring dreams. She'd been having the same dreams for years, granted it wasn't the same thing each night, but it came to her often enough to grab her attention.

In her dreams, she was standing somewhere in the darkness – not the eerie kind, but a comfortable darkness. There would be some sort of sparkling objects floating around her and she'd just stand and watch them. Then, the objects would slowly move and accumulate in front of her, where they'd obscure a figure behind them. There was someone behind those objects, and she'd reach out to them. She'd always be so close to touch them, but her dream would abruptly end there.

Sakura believed that dreams spoke in riddles; they were her subconscious thoughts that manifested in her dreams. But she never had enough time to analyze her dreams, so the illusive figure remained unidentifiable.

_Maybe it was her father_?

She'd never seen him in person. The pictures in the photo albums her mother kept weren't enough for her to actually visualize him. Maybe that's why his form was distorted by those sparkling things. But then again, who says it was the late Haruno-san?

'_Could it be Sasuke?_' She asked herself.  
She could see him so clearly in her mind – his raven hair spiked in daring angles, those meticulous eyes, and cool expression. It wasn't that she was still infatuated with him. She grew out of that stage long before. She just missed him as a teammate. Granted she never actually bonded with him the way Naruto and he did, but they were teammates nonetheless. Sakura knew that one way or another, Sasuke cared for her too.  
How she missed him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a cool breeze that gave her arms goose bumps. She rubbed at them briskly and noted that the sun was just about done setting and the first stars were appearing rather quickly.

"Well", she told herself, "time to head off."

Sakura got up from her sitting position, smoothed out her shirt and skirt, and leaped off the branch onto the tall grass. As she sped through the grass that led to the barren lands, her mind wandered off to her dreams again.

"Who are you...?" Sakura mumbled.

* * *

Tsunade told her to bring four containers of water. 

Sakura brought _three_.

'Idiot.', Sakura scolded herself. There she was in the middle of the desert, traveling at a slower speed than what she started with, sweating under the sun, with barely four gulps of water left in her third canteen. Sakura narrowed her eyes in search of the buildings of Suna in the horizon. The hazy desert atmosphere made it difficult to distinguish anything that far, so it was unclear whether Suna was just in view or not.

"Dammit", Sakura considered the latter. "If I can't even see it from this far, how much more do I have left to go?"

She'd passed the guards patrolling the far vicinities of Suna hours ago. Glancing behind her, she could still see the mile marker from where the guards stood. During the sun's peak hours, Sakura spent her time hydrating under the man-made shade by the mile marker. It was then that Sakura's memory registered what the sign read.

"Suna - _17_", she grunted. That meant 17 more miles to the damn city. She hoped her body would allow a few more miles with the remaining water to reach Suna.

* * *

Tsunade told her to bring a hooded coat. 

Sakura brought _Naruto's _jacket.

'You really _are _an idiot', Sakura scolded herself yet again. The sun sank below the horizon too soon for Sakura's liking and the cold temperature that the desert brought in was not as forgiving as the one the first night near the border provided. As much as she loved wearing Naruto's stuff, she cursed it now; sure it covered her upper body, but what about her legs? How was Naruto's jacket the first thing she picked up on her way out of the house before leaving for Suna anyway?

Sakura had asked Naruto to spar with her when Tsunade had a mandatory meeting. Their sparring session lasted longer than expected and by the time they agreed to call it a day, it was two hours past dinner time. It was cool during that April night, and with the sweat that collected on Sakura's body, she shivered slightly. This didn't go unnoticed to the blonde, and he unzipped his jacket and covered Sakura's form with it. It wasn't until the next day that Sakura woke up in her bed that she realized she still had his jacket. In fact, she slept with it on.

She kept forgetting to give it back to him.

A week later, Tsunade assigned her to Suna. She almost forgot her shishou's reminder about a coat, and Naruto's was conveniently ready on her bed.

So here she was, feeling the harsh cold air of the desert on her legs and face, with three empty containers of water in her bag, and a body that was begging to be replenished. Silly her for thinking she'd make it to Sunagakure in less than the four days Tsunade estimated.

Sakura was seriously dehydrated at this point and was more than worried that she'd collapse any moment now. She'd used up a generous amount of chakra healing the Konoha guards by the border, and she hadn't bothered sleeping since then. Hopefully, adrenaline and fear of fainting in the middle of the desert would get her body through this?

Sakura's left foot gave up on her and she slipped on her next landing. She fell unceremoniously on the now cool sand, and she stayed there inhaling and exhaling deeply to clear her dizzy head and catch up with rapidly beating heart.  
'What the hell…?' Sakura thought. 'Shouldn't there be another post somewhere nearby? I know I should have passed 10 miles by now.'

Sakura suddenly tensed, her senses picking up unknown chakra sources nearby. Due to Tsunade's training, Sakura was able to feel a person's killing intent, and right now, it was very present. It couldn't be Sand; they knew she was coming to their city. Tsunade sent a message to the Kazekage informing him of Sakura's visit. The two guards she passed earlier wouldn't attack her. The Kazekage notified them she'd be passing, and if they had planned on killing her, they would have done so earlier.

_Three _were coming her way.

**Sound. **_Great_. Just what she needed.

There were small battles between Sound and the village of Konoha and Sand for years. Attacks were quite common nowadays. Sakura mentally cursed her weakened body for not sensing them much earlier. Her mind started strategizing for the inevitable confrontation.

The three Sound nins slowed to a halt as they came by the kunoichi's form. Sakura feigned unconsciousness while her hand clasped a kunai ready and gathered chakra in her good foot and free hand.

One of the nins loomed over her figure to look closer at Sakura's forehead protector.  
"Well what d'ya know? We've got ourselves here a Leaf."  
The other two sniggered. They were assigned too ambush Sand nins within miles of Suna and take one hostage. They already captured a guard a few hours ago, but when they sensed another source of chakra speeding towards the city, they figured they'd have some fun and kill this one too. How fortuitous it is that a Leaf nin lay there for the taking. They needed a hostage from Konoha anyway. Images of extra pay flashed through their minds as the nin bent down to throw the kunoichi over his shoulder.

Just as he hauled the girl's arm to turn her over and pick her up, Sakura's eyes shot open and drove her kunai deep into the nin's face. She pulled it back immediately, throwing the now bloody kunai to the furthest nin. The third Sound nin charged at her fast, and Sakura reacted with a punch that he barely dodged. Sakura successfully swung her leg straight into his ribcage, and spun around to meet a katana that managed to pierce a few inches into her left shoulder. The second Sound nin holding the weapon smirked at Sakura's surprised look, but froze when the kunoichi's form poofed and revealed a knapsack in her place.

Sakura used what was left of her Chakra in one punch that sent the nin flying a couple meters away. The sound of facial bones crushing echoed into the desert air as Sakura's exhausted body gave up on her. She collapsed face front onto the sand, her breathing uneven. Sakura coughed and struggled to ease her lungs.

'_Dammit!_' She cursed to herself for the second time that night.  
How the hell had she messed up this simple mission so damn much? She hadn't anticipated using up three-fourths of her chakra healing Konoha guards and didn't expect the desert's weather to be so harsh. Furthermore, she didn't count on a Sound attack so soon, especially since Sound suffered a good amount of injury from their mini-battle with Konoha.  
'Should've taken that extra day off' Inner Sakura scolded.

Sakura's mind snapped back to alertness as two of the attackers recovered from her hits and again made their way towards her, weapons in tow. There was no way they'd fall for another surprise attack. Not that they had much to worry about -- Sakura used up her remaining chakra in that last punch.

"Little _bitch"_, said the nin with a now disfigured, bloody nose and a sickening purple-green bruise on his broken cheek bones. He yanked Sakura up by the throat and pulled back his free hand for a punch. "Don't worry. I won't kill you. We'll make sure they torture you good."  
The nin sneered, but his face was so distrorted that it looked like he was simply baring his teeth at her.  
Sakura waited for the punch, shutting her eyes in the process and taking in a deep breath to ready herself.

But the hit never came.

Sakura chanced a look and saw that her captor was looking past her with wide eyes. His other companion's facial expression was pretty much the same, and Sakura realized there was someone standing a few feet behind her. She wondered if the presence behind her was an ally. For all she knew, it was just some random psychopath on a killing spree.  
Not a moment later, the hand that grasped her throat was suddenly gone and she found herself lying on the sand once again, her gaze towards the sky. She didn't even have the strength to turn her head and see what was happening. It wasn't like she wanted to see anyway, for she cringed as she heard the nins' voices scream in agony.

And then there was silence.

Sakura started getting worried that she'd be next – whatever happened to those nins. Despite her instinct to get up and defend herself, her body was too tired to come up with some form of plan to get out of this situation, let alone fight, and she felt her eyes closing, consciousness slipping away.

The last thing she saw were sparkling dust-like objects hovering above her and her hand as she tried to reach out to it…

* * *

special thanks to my cousin **Liezl **for helping with the manual beta-ing 

and another thing, the idea of those floating glittery crap..well, basically the whole dream sequence is based on the naruto ending with "parade" as a bg song. In it, Sakura's dreaming just as I described in fic, and then she bolts up from her bed and looks around.


	2. Just Fine

**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not and never will belong to poor lil ol me.

**Author's Notes: **Meh. _Please review_. I do need feedback so I know early on if there's anything - - _anything at all_ wrong/off with my writing and the story.

Special thank you, **Liezl **for beta-ing.

* * *

Dreams 

Chapter 2

* * *

Sakura woke up with a start. Her eyes scanned her surroundings and found that she was in a hospital bed. 

It was quiet.

The room she was in was sparsely decorated, consisting of three mahogany chairs by a small round table in one corner, two desks on opposite sides of the walls, and a vase next to a jar and glass on the desk closest to her bed. The walls, ceiling, and floor were light brown adobe, and the window had wooden shutters that were open to let fresh air in. Judging from the heat and hue of the sunlight streaming into her window, it was just about midday.

Sakura tested her muscles by trying to sit up. Her lats and abs were definitely sore, and a dull pain settled on her shoulders as she attempted to straighten her back. Despite the discomfort of sore muscles, Sakura's chakra reserves were replenished. She stretched her arms above her, recalling the events right before she passed out.'_Was it a dream?_'

No.

She remembered those glittering things moving above her. They were definitely there.  
Who was there? Who finished off those Sound nins? Who brought her here?

Before her mind could rant more questions, the door to her room opened, revealing a tall, well-toned kunoichi. She nodded to the pink-haired nin who returned the gesture with a polite smile. It was good to see a familiar face.

"I figured you'd be awake by now", Temari noted as she closed the door and walked by Sakura's bed.

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. "How long was I out?" she asked, the thought of being knocked out for too long didn't settle well with her.

"About two days. Don't worry. We've already sent word to the fifth hokage of your arrival and informed her about the surprise ambush from Sound."

Sakura felt semi-relieved that at least her shishou wouldn't be so worried. "Thank you", she answered.

"A nurse should be with you shortly with a meal, and then I guess you could leave the room whenever you're ready. I believe the medic elders are in the greenhouse for the rest of the day. You'll be able to find them there."

Sakura nodded glad to hear that a meal was soon to be served. Her stomach grumbled in agreement.

Temari was about to leave when an image of the floating glitters flashed through Sakura's memory.

"Who brought me in?" Sakura asked the blond nin.

Before Temari could answer, the door to Sakura's room opened again, this time revealing a middle aged nurse carrying a tray of food. The nurse was slightly out of breath, probably from rushing over to the room.

"Temari-sama. Kankuro-sama instructed me to find you and tell you that the he requires your assistance immediately", the woman informed.

With the unanswered question left hanging in the air, Temari and Sakura exchanged curt nods before she left for the Kazekage's office. The nurse bowed as Temari left and then proceeded to serve Sakura her meal.

Slightly disappointed that she didn't get an answer, Sakura concentrated on her food instead. She'd have to ask again later. In the mean time, cold hiyashi udon with men-tsuyu was waiting for her.

* * *

Sakura was attempting to walk through the halls in the hospital – a _very _busy hospital. She was bent on making her way out of the hectic hospital when she overheard one of the medics in an equipment room barking orders for more bandage wrappings. Not long after, more than a handful of nins in stretchers were rushed in. People were now running over in many directions carrying several apparatus. 

Being a medic herself, Sakura started worrying about the number of nins being brought in. She spotted a stout brunette woman wearing the clothes that designated her as the head medic, and Sakura walked over to inquire if she could aid in anything. As if sensing Sakura's presence nearby, the woman glanced at her direction. She recognized Sakura immediately and jogged over to her.

"Oh thank God you're up and ready. We need as much help as possible!" The head nurse was already ushering Sakura into a hallway.

Sakura observed several more than frantic nurses scurrying to Kami-knows-where.

Wait.

Not _to_ ---but _from_ somewhere. She realized that there was only one room at the end of that hall.

"When you were brought in, I was informed that you were now the top medic nin in Konoha. I'm sure you know how to handle this kind of situation; I remember you were successful before," the woman explained.

"_This kind of situation_?" Sakura asked. "What happened?"

"Well it seems that Sound's little surprise attack two nights ago really irked the Kazekage. This was the sixth assault on Suna guards this month. After a guard was killed and another captured in addition to you being ambushed, the Kazekage himself led an attack into Sound's boundaries. They were able to kill off a good number of them and freed several prisoners, but our nins suffered several losses as well. As you can see, we're trying to heal as many as we can right now."

"Yeah… I just saw a couple of nins being rushed in.", Sakura said.

"It really isn't that big of a deal", the medic shook her head. "They're nothing our medics can't handle. They'll be in good health in a few days."

"And the Kazekage?"

The ground trembled non-too-gently followed by several scolding voices. Sakura and the head medic finally reached the room and entered to find said Kazekage wrapped in loosened bandages with Kankuro and Temari on each arm, obviously trying to hold him down. The rest of the room was in disarray with tables and chairs toppled over and sand moving about.

"Right. The Kazekage. _He's_ the situation", the older medic sighed.

The Sand siblings looked up to find a slightly peeved medic whose arms were crossed next to a surprised, and yet amused kunoichi.

"Ah, Sakura-san. Glad for you to join our little party over here", Kankuro joked with a big grin. Temari smirked while a piqued Gaara gave a dead-panned look.

"We've been trying to properly treat _his majesty's_ wounds here for the past two hours. He was hit by a poisoned needle when he was fighting in the border of Sound, so now we're trying to administer the antidote before it gets worse. But apparently, he's not into needles much", Temari pointed out.

"What kind of poison?" Sakura asked.

Temari and Kankuro sniggered, while the rest of the occupants in the room, excluding Gaara and Sakura, stifled their laughter. Sakura raised an eyebrow, interested to find out exactly what the poison induced.

A strained growl reverberated in the room, as all eyes drew to Gaara's lower abdomen.

Ooh. So it gave him _that_.

"From all of the mini wars being waged with Sound, they must have been running low on supplies. Whoever put poison on that needle probably didn't care too much about what kind of poison was on it", Kankuro surmised. "Tough luck it had to be a **laxative**!" he added, laughing away.

"It wasn't a laxative; laxatives are taken orally, you dimwit", Gaara growled. "It was meant to simply disrupt the internal organs." Gaara resumed trying to pry his arms free from his sister and brother, and the sand in the room swirled over to Temari's and Kankuro's arms.

Next to Temari stood several nurses; the one closest to the bed was holding a medical needle, while the other nurses stood conspicuously a good distance away. The poor medic with the needle looked so helpless, and when Sakura walked over to her, she gave the kunoichi an apologetic look. Sakura offered the young medic a reassuring smile as she took the instrument from her.

Turning to the task at hand, Sakura looked at Gaara square in the eyes.

"You weren't struggling this much when I gave you an injection last time" Sakura said with a half smile. She was referring to the time right after Shukaku was extracted from him and Chiyo-baa performed her last jutsu. Garaa's body was weakened from the extraction process. Sakura aided in his recovery, and at some point, she had to give him a shot, which Gaara managed to sit through.

Gaara made no response except for narrowing his eyes. He wasn't struggling, which was good, and Sakura decided to make the most out of his lack of resistance to quickly inject him on his left arm. The pain lasted for just two seconds, and then she was done. The whole room visibly relaxed as they all breathed a sigh of relief.

The whole situation really was comical. Had this whole scenario occurred a few years back, the room would have been filled with tension and fear. Temari and Kankuro would have been no where near their sibling. The medics would have been afraid to even enter the room. Sakura would never have willingly approached Gaara. In fact, Gaara wouldn't even _be_ on a hospital bed. No. He would have been saved by the automatic shield of the sand. In the event that Gaara did get hit, he would never allow anyone to treat him. He'd have the power of the Jinchuriki heal his body, even if it did take both time and a significant toll on his chakra reserves.

But that expected outcome was based on the past ---his reactions and personality in the past. Now, Gaara was in a setting that Sakura expected only Naruto to be in, and reacting the way Naruto would have reacted to needles –minus the narrowing of the eyes.

Gaara had opened up to a certain extent over the past few years, and with the Shukaku no longer in his system, his cold exterior warmed up a bit turning him into a more sociable person. Sure he still held that part of him that was aloof and his tongue retained its sharpness, but overall, his change was nothing short of amazing.

Gaara still needed more time to get used to the increase of human contact. He wasn't one-hundred percent sure of how to react to people at times. Emotions were something he needed to get well acquainted with. Anger, hurt, and hatred were the first kinds of feelings he felt and he learned them very well in his early life. Now, he was opening up to experience more feelings and many a time he'd find himself completely lost as to how to respond.

Humor took him almost half a year to get down. Not to say that he was totally inept to the concept of humor. It was more of getting a reaction from him that proved to be difficult.

His first real laugh was due to Naruto's antics when Team 7 paid a visit to the Kazekage a few months after the Shukaku extracting incident. Naruto made a slick comment concerning Sakura's _physical_ maturity and how she would develop _exactly_ like the Godaime. Sakura had chased Naruto around the room with glowing fists.

Everyone had been shocked at the sound of his laughter. It wasn't that it sounded strange. It was actually a hearty laugh that could be expected from any young man. The fact that it was _the_ Gaara laughing --–and not maniacally— caught people by surprise.

Love was also a difficult one for Gaara. It took some time, but he learned to care for his older brother and sister, Sunagakure, and its people. It was what made him a great Kazekage. The people didn't bow down to him just because of his status; they bowed down to him because they truly admired and respected him.

Gaara learned about the kind of love a family should have. Even though he was deprived of this in his early years, Gaara understood what that love was about upon observing families in Suna and acknowledging that there was something deep about his relationship with his brother and sister.

Gaara believed that he had a decent grasp on love until a certain conversation over dinner confused him even more. Kankuro had been questioning Temari about her extra visits to Konoha to which Temari blushed momentarily and then glared at her brother. She mumbled something about 'maintaining good relations' with their allies.

_"Really _good relations, eh Temari?" Kankuro teased. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were in love with cloud-boy."

That had earned the puppet-user a shiny red bump on his head.

Gaara, confused about Temari's reaction, asked what was so bad about loving someone outside of the family. Gaara loved the people of Suna and cared for his friends from Konoha, so what was that reaction from Termari?

Temari and Kankuro looked at each other and realized that they had missed a big part of their explanation when they were describing the concept of love to their sibling.

"It's not wrong. It's just… well…"

"The respect, caring, and appreciation you feel for the other person is pretty much the same as how you feel for us. The difference is… uhh… well I guess the difference would be that in addition to love, you have the intention of committing yourself..uhhhh intimately to this one person", Kankuro attempted to explain.

Temari nodded in agreement with Kankuro, who looked very pleased with himself for coming up with what he thought was a very good explanation.

They received a blank look from Gaara.

The Kazekage normally had that poker faced look to hide what he was feeling or thinking. But the blank look he had this time was purely because he did not understand at all. Further explanation took them close to an hour and even then, Gaara still wasn't all too sure about it. Temari simply told him that he'd understand when he finally falls in love with someone.

For some reason, Gaara wasn't looking forward to it.

The antidote seemed to have immediate effects; Gaara felt that soreness in his stomach vanish in just a matter of minutes.

The other medics had left, attending to other patients, while the older Sand siblings remained with Sakura by Gaara's bed. Gaara smiled to himself as he listened to his sister and the pink-haired medic chat away about the latest news and gossip. This didn't go unnoticed to the elder sand sibling.

Kankuro leaned in close enough for Gaara to hear him. "You know Sakura-san will be staying in Suna for _a while_."

Gaara side glanced at Kankuro, fully understanding what his conniving brother implied.

The puppet-user and the fan-wielder have been attempting to put some extra love in his life after that discussion over dinner. They brought Gaara with them to several events to supposedly get him to be a more people-person. It was just _so_ convenient that these social festivities were practically swarmed with girls.

Gaara was curious at the time and decided to take up the challenge and actually talk to several young women. After only a few minutes of mingling with any one person, Gaara found that they were quite boring.

Gaara didn't want to go to any more of these social gatherings, but Temari and Kankuro still managed to drag him into them.

"_So?_" Gaara asked, but Kankuro simply grinned. "If you think of even trying to get me 'set up' with another girl, you're deluded" Gaara flatly informed.

Kankuro looked highly amused. "Oh little brother, I never said anything of the sort", Kankuro smiled innocently.

He received Gaara's infamous narrowing of the eyes.

Contemplating with Kankuro's suggestion, Gaara came to the conclusion that his brother and sister would never stop pestering him if he didn't 'make a move'. Sighing inwardly, Gaara silently gave in, willing himself to at least give it a try.

"So how long will you be staying with us?" Temari asked.

"Well… indefinitely" Sakura stated. "Tsunade-sama just instructed me to learn and exchange as much medical techniques as possible."

At this point, Gaara felt Kankuro give him a sharp nudge to his side.

"You are more than welcome to stay as long as you want", Gaara volunteered. He earned himself two surprised glances from the two kunoichis in the room and another not-so-subtle elbow from Kankuro. ".. Haruno-san", he added.

A disappointed grunt came from the puppet-user beside him.

Sakura smiled and chuckled a little. "Kazekage-sama, you don't need to be extra formal with me. We're more than just acquaintances you know."

Gaara smirked a little. "You don't need to be so formal with me either unless we're in the presence of other people, Sakura; Gaara will do just fine."

Sakura felt her cheeks flush and the tips of her ears warm up. Sure she visited Suna several times, but she had never really gotten used to hearing him address her without formalities. Her name on his tongue sounded very foreign to her ears, and it wasn't a bad thing.  
Nope… not at all.

Sakura found herself responding before she could even comprehend exactly what she was saying.

"Yes, he will do just fine" Sakura teased.

Sakura mentally slapped herself.  
'_What the **hell **was that Sakura!_'  
Inner Sakura simply shrugged. '_That was all you, sweetie_.'

Temari was trying not to smile too much, but her look of surprise over Sakura's playful comment couldn't be hidden. Kankuro was just as amused as Temari, and Gaara, again, was unsure of how to respond to that. Yes, he had attempted to flirt with women before, but never had **he **been the one to be left speechless. His mind was frantically searching for a respond, but could find none.

Sakura cleared her throat self-consciously. "Well, you shouldn't feel too much side effects from the medication", Sakura explained, trying to cover-up her bold statement. "You might not want to use too much chakra for at least a day. The poison in your system could have affected more than your digestive tract. The medication I gave you uses your chakra to boost your immune system to destroy the poison, so you'll need to take it easy."

Sakura hoped that her babbling was smooth enough to discard the awkward moment that she created moments ago.

Gaara simply nodded. His relaxed demeanor expertly hid his chaotic mind, which was now trying to find something new to talk about.

"So… um…" Sakura began.

"Your room has been cleaned" Gaara piped in. "It's the same one that you usually stay in."

Sakura politely thanked him and proceeded to stand up.

"I think I'll drop my stuff in the room and head off to the greenhouse. I heard a new section was built near there for public viewing. I've been dying to see what all the hype was about."

Temari looked at her red-headed sibling pointedly.

_Dammit, I know what I'm doing_. Gaara mentally grunted.

Really. He knew how to get closer to a girl. He didn't need any further teaching from his older sister and brother.

"The best time to go there is near twilight" Gaara suggested.

"Oooh, that's my favourite time of the day too" Sakura smiled brightly. She'd heard so much about the place. It was supposedly a beautiful garden overflowing with various plants. Despite the wars being waged, people from different villages still came to visit Suna just to see the garden.

"Perhaps I can take you on a tour to see the gardens?" Gaara offered.

Sakura felt a blush making its way to her cheeks again. Sure, she'd been asked by several guys to a date, but…

Wait.

Date?

Who ever said this was a date? For pitty's sake, the Kazekage simply offered to give a tour!  
'_A TOUR, Sakura_', she mentally berated herself.  
'_Were you wishing for something more?_' Inner Sakura challenged.

"I'd like that very much", Sakura found herself responding in a surprisingly calm voice with a smile.

"Well, you know where to find me whenever, so I'll be seeing you guys around." Sakura smiled at the Sand siblings before making her way out of the room to find her own room that was in the same building as the Kazekage tower.

Analyzing her previous thoughts, Sakura wondered why she was blushing so much around Gaara. This wasn't the first time that a guy offered to go with her somewhere.  
Like Naruto. He always invited Sakura to eat ramen with him.  
There was Lee, who asked her to jog with him.  
Kiba offered her rides with him and Akamaru every now and then.

Well… there was that time that she blushed heavily when she stumbled on a topless Neji meditating by some mini-waterfalls. Sakura was about to leave when the Hyuuga greeted her.

"You don't need to leave, Sakura-san" his smooth voice reached her ears.

"I don't mean to interrupt your meditation, Neji-san" she had responded, trying to keep her eyes at level with his and not wander off lower…

"Why don't you join me?" he had asked her while returning to his meditative position.

Sakura gladly took the offer and made her way to sit on a large stone next to the one he was on and meditated with him.

Maybe she was attracted to guys with power?  
Yes, that must definitely be it.  
It did all start with Sasuke.  
After him, her attraction bounced from person to person. She hadn't really found a guy to go on a steady relationship with. This was probably just another initial-attraction kind of situation.

Putting these thoughts aside, Sakura found the Kazekage's tower and made her way to her room. Her room was in the same floor as the Sand siblings, and Sakura couldn't help but feel special that she was welcomed into their home. She had gained some form of friendship with them too especially since she and Naruto visited a lot before. Smiling to herself, she wondered when a certain red-haired Kage would be well enough to give her that tour.

* * *

Sakura found the large greenhouse that housed plenty of rare plants. She was currently learning to make new antidotes from an old medic. The aged woman was soft-spoken, but had a tone of wittiness to her. She reminded her so much of Chiyo-baa-sama. She missed the spunky old lady. Who knew that she retained all that energy and skill even after the years took away her youth? A sad smile graced Sakura's lips upon remembering how the kind woman died. 

A sudden loud boom from somewhere outside disrupted the peaceful setting, and Sakura put down her almost finished antidote and ran out of the greenhouse to see where it came from.

The tops of two buildings were completely destroyed, sending chunks of debris falling to the streets. Dust and sand filled the air and Sakura found herself almost choking because of it. People were running everywhere, and Sakura looked around to find the source of all the destruction.

"Sound is here!" someone shouted over the screams.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Sand nins came leaping on top of buildings and running across the streets. Sakura's gaze followed the direction they were all headed.

'They're heading off to the gates.' Sakura realized.

Two figures in the air moving in the opposite direction caught Sakura's attention. They were moving towards the high tower – the hokage's office.

It was Temari and Kankuro.

Even from the distance, Sakura could see that Temari sported a large gash on her shoulder and Kankuro was favoring his left leg. What really caught Sakura's attention, however, was the unconscious body that the two nins were carrying between them.

Gaara.

* * *

**A/N: **Ok. This chapter was totally delayed by two weeks and that is **unforgivable**. lol. XD But I swear, it was really tough to get this chapter up. Been really busy for the past two weeks with summer job and everything. Plus, **Liezl **has her computer problems and couldn't beta this baby for me for a while. I finally had a break last night and early this morning to finish this chapter.  
I'd be really grateful for any reviews. I 'm starting to become really repetitive here, but I do want to get reviews so I know if I'm doing a dcent job or not. 

_meh..._


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